Fried grasshoppers now compete with beef in Borno

Grasshoppers are now very popular as a delicacy, quickly displacing beef which is  becoming scarce in parts of Borno Even as Boko Haram insurgents rustle  most of the livestock in the North-East region, the people of Borno state have refused to allow the shortage of meat in the markets to upset  them, as most of […]

Grasshoppers are now very popular as a delicacy, quickly displacing beef which is  becoming scarce in parts of Borno
Even as Boko Haram insurgents rustle  most of the livestock in the North-East region, the people of Borno state have refused to allow the shortage of meat in the markets to upset  them, as most of them have  turned to fried grasshoppers which they say  is even cheaper and more delicious than beef.
Those who spoke to Daily Trust said they have been eating fried grasshoppers ever before the insurgency started  in the state, but that the patronage increased seriously when insurgents intensified livestock rustling, thereby causing acute scarcity of meat in the market.
Rather than the usual evening outings in other places where young men and women go to suya stands and buy assorted roasted meat and chicken, in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, what is common is for youth and even the elderly ones to go to fried grasshopper stands and make purchases.
A student in one of the tertiary institutions in the state, Miss Comfort Chika Obi said, “I am not happy  when I do not eat grasshopper. Even when I am travelling to the east for Christmas or on  holiday, I make sure I buy enough that will last me the period I intend to stay there, because you cannot get it there to buy.
“I wasn’t used  to eating  it before until my friend Zara introduced me to it. But you know, when you get a woman that knows how to prepare it, what will you do with meat. I was a fan of cellular (chicken head and legs) before I discovered the  grasshopper meal . I like both the grasshopper and the ‘kayayau-kayayau’ (grasshopper legs which are fried separately).
“I hope you realize  that with just N200 you can get enough grasshoppers to eat, unlike suya  for which you can use N200 to buy only one small stick. Sometimes, if I do not have enough money to buy the grasshoppers, I will just buy N50 kayayau-kayayau and add to my rice and eat. It is delicious,” she said.
Miss Wasini Audu said she started eating fried grasshoppers over ten years ago, adding, “It is a good day to have fried grasshoppers as a meal. A mere look at a plate of fried grasshoppers will instantly give you an appetite. It is so appealing. The spices they add to it make the taste extra ordinary. I once liked  suya a lot, but you remember there was a time you cannot even see meat to buy in Maiduguri because of  the insurgency; that was when I turned  to grasshoppers,” she said.

Hope Tobore who sells and repairs phones at Jogol market near the Post office in Maiduguri said it is easier to entertain friends with fried grasshoppers than meat, saying, “N100 fried grasshoppers with a bottle of mineral makes my day. I have live here for years and I started eating it in my second month. I stopped eating meat when it became scarce and expensive.
“Fried grasshoppers have this good look that goes with the nice aroma. It tastes  better than meat, and I believe it is more nutritious and yet cheaper. I am sure if eateries like Mr Biggs and others will discover fried grasshoppers, they will add it to their menu. I am surprised that fried grasshoppers are not sold nationally,” he said.
When this reporter visited the grasshoppers market at Shagari Low Cost Housing Estate along Gubio road within the outskirts of Maiduguri, several bags of grasshoppers were seen being supplied and marketed between the hours of 7am and 9am.
Grasshopper hunters usually travel as far as 100 kilometers or more towards the Nigeria and Niger republics border, and catch the insects  in bags during a night spent   hunting and they supply same to the market in the morning ,where women and girls are found  waiting to buy.

One of the prominent grasshopper hunters, Gambo Yahaya Saidu who said he has been hunting for grasshoppers for over 18 years, said grasshoppers can only be hunted  between the hours of 8pm and 4am in the morning, saying, “You can only get them to catch in the thick forest. We enter vehicles  from here and travel to a point  after Kukawa and Abadan, then we trek into the bush.
“Between 8 and 9pm, you will feel them in the bush hitting your body. They usually settle down on two types of plants locally known as Kalgo and Sabara. First of all, you can only go out to hunt for them when you wear a  jeans trouser. And you must make sure you starch the trouser very well ,then you put on a rain coat and trouser or strong leather clothes on top, to avoid any stick from tearing your cloth and wounding you.
“You will tie a bag on your back that will contain a  spare cloth and a spare sack. We mainly use boots that you will tie to your leg like the ones soldiers are using, but ours must be rubber boots. We do not use rain boots because they will not last. You will tie a sack to your neck and hang it by your chest, which  you will use to be packing your catch.
“When the bag is full you hang it by your side and bring out the spare one you have. The much one can catch in a night may not be more than two bags. Yes, sometimes we encounter snakes and other reptiles. But the commonest problem is that of people missing their ways  several kilometers deep in the thick forest. When you are lucky and you meet kind villagers they will help you out.
“The bigger hazard is usually with beginners who will catch grasshoppers but when some slip  away from their hands, they will bend down and insist on picking the one that fell. That way, so many of our people had cases of sticks wounding them and in some cases damaging their eyes. That is the commonest problem we experience. On the whole, the business is fruitful.
“We have about four types of grasshoppers depending on the season. We have red, white, yellow and one that has a mixture of black, white and red. This is the peak of the grasshopper business. We now sell a bag  at N6,000 because they are scarce now. The rainy season grasshoppers are disappearing, while those of dry season are yet to grow fully. There are times we sell a bag for as low as N2,000.
“These ladies that you see running after us pleading to buy from us, when the scarcity period is over and there is enough grasshoppers everywhere, they will stay back at home and tell us to supply them on credit. You know whatever happens, you must not allow your  grasshoppers to remain with you unsold up to noon, because heat will be killing them in the bag, and they will start changing colour and become bitter when fried,” he said.  

One of several ladies frying and selling fried grasshoppers at Baga road in Maiduguri, Hauwa Audu said she usually buys half a bag at N3,000 from the market at Shagari Low Cost Housing Estate, and sells  everything the same day except on Sundays  when the market is not open.
“When we return from  the market with the grasshoppers, we turn it into water and they will all die within a few minutes. We shall then remove the feather, the legs and the body separately. There are two ways of frying it. You may wish to boil the grasshoppers with Maggi, salt, onions and Onga. Then you will remove and dry it before you start frying. Customers prefer this because it is sweeter and more fleshy.
“The second way is after removing the feather and the legs, you start frying. After frying it then you add salt and maggi. This last style is common and profitable because the grasshoppers will swell up since they were not boiled. Most bulk buyers prefer the ones you boil before frying. People from Abuja, Kano, Lagos and many other places buy cartons and eat at home.
“We sell the small size measure for N400 and a big size carton costs  N14,000. During Sallah or Christmas when most workers living outside the state visit home and are going back, they buy a lot and take along with them. We sell a lot whenever they are going back after the holidays. People also buy and eat daily. Fried grasshoppers are also used in entertaining guests,” she said.
Helen Ezra who was found preparing grasshoppers for frying, told this reporter that while some customers buy the grasshoppers to eat, others buy the legs and eat as well, saying the legs are sold different from the main grasshoppers. She said all classes of people patronize them day in day out.
Helen Israel, another seller of fried grasshoppers, described the business as profitable “You have nothing to lose in it because fried grasshoppers can last for two months without changing taste. People are buying it a lot. Our problem is lack of capital. If one can get money to buy three bags and a jerry can of oil, what else do I need? That will be better than going to the market daily to buy grasshoppers,” she said.